driftfleet | (no subject)

[He's glad to hear that- the fact that she has someone close from the "other side", so to speak. If he'd been raised without Sorey, it would have been much harder to sway him to go against what he'd always been taught. Familiarity makes all the difference.]

I've no doubt that he'd love to meet you, as well. He's not on board right now, but I can introduce you the next time you're both here, if you don't find each other elsewhere first.

I'd love that. And can you tell me what he looks like, just in case I happen to meet him first?

[It's a small world sometimes, and it really would be a shame to miss Sorey.]

Of course. Just look for spiky brown hair and green eyes underneath all the engine grease. He's almost always smiling, and if you're around enough he's guaranteed to find you and give you a proper welcome first, so it's not difficult to know that it's him.

[The fact that Mikleo expects that she'll be around again in the future is...nice. It answers a question she's never put into words.]

I look forward to meeting him, whenever and wherever it happens. But it sounds like he's rubbing off on you. I think I'd call this a very proper welcome, too.

Hmph... well, I guess it's inevitable for something to rub off on me eventually. We did grow up together.

[That's how it works, right?]

You did?

[...Yeah, no, that's not actually surprising.]

That makes sense. You do sound like you've known him for a long time. Has he also been the Shepherd for a long time, or is that something more recent?

Definitely recent. We'd never even left home until a few days before it happened. He picked a really strange way to travel the world.

Traveling the world after leaving home for the first time...that sounds like it could be exciting. But I suppose there's a lot of work to do, if he's a Shepherd.

It's plenty of work, yeah. But we've been told that it's important to have some down time as well, so we make sure that he takes a break now and then.

[They'd been having less and less of that back home, with the confrontation with Heldalf swiftly approaching, but at least here, they've had plenty of relaxing time. Probably too much, but it's nice, anyway.]

Yes, I think that's important too. It's grounding, in a way.

[She sees it as such anyway. Picnics and organizing Senel-wakeup duty are part of what makes politics and world-saving worth it all.]

You're a very good friend, looking after him like that.

[She needs to s t o p]

We're... mostly just stuck with each other, that's all.

[NEVER. Shirley is a staunch advocate of airing your feelings out, teasing excepted.]

It takes dedication to follow someone on a journey like that. And in my experience it only brings you closer, even if you weren't already.

[goddammit shirley]

I suppose that's true.

[You don't get much closer than literally sharing a body, really. Even if you have to share it with a couple of other people in the process...]

I'm glad the two of you can be here together, if you have to be here at all. Even with your crew there, I know I've felt homesick for my friends at home before.

Yeah... we still feel homesick sometimes, but I think that's unavoidable. Having him around helps a lot.

I'm sure it does. I miss that too, actually...having people who know me that well.

[She looks up at the ceiling for a second, thinking of the friends and crew members she's had.]

I had some very good times on the Huntress, when I was here. I hope everyone's still getting along?

I'm not aware of any abnormal conflicts. I'd probably have sensed it by now.

[The ship has way less malevolence than it'd had when they first arrived here, that's for sure.]

We like each other well enough, I think.

Well enough? That's not the response I expect of a captain.

[She's teasing, it's clear enough. But Shirley is seeing that this isn't quite the same place she used to be so familiar with. Not that she expected anything else, but she misses the way things were with her old crew and all the little family pairs.]

...But I'm glad to see that everyone's getting along.

It shouldn't be so surprising, considering how the roster tends to rotate. For a while there were people living on board for months who didn't even know I existed.

[How confusing must the chain of command been? It's a wonder Sorey didn't get more questions about it. Or if he did, he hadn't mentioned it.]

That's not how it used to be. But the ship was getting bigger when I left...even then, it was a lot different from my first days here. It used to be three of us here, all sleeping together in the same room. We couldn't miss each other if we tried.

[And that was over a year and a half ago now. Is it possible to feel old when you're sixteen? Will manages it at twenty-eight, so maybe it's not too far off.]

[Oh god, oh god shared quarters]

I can't imagine that... I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had so little space to myself.

[Especially back when half the crew couldn't see him. He'd get crashed into constantly. That, or he'd be living inside Sorey 24/7.]

That is why the bunks were one of the first things we upgraded, when we could. It's much nicer now, isn't it? Even if they're still not very large.

[Good thing too, since she was the only girl on the ship for a while. Having of a room of her own was a delight.]

It makes a world of a difference, I think.

[Even if he and Sorey are constantly in each others' rooms anyway, at least it's by choice.]

It does. Do you have any personnel officers here right now? I know Elize had her own room for that as well, when she was here.

We do have one, yes- Maglor. He's an elf, if that means anything to you.

[The mentioned name is distracting, though- it's been some time since he saw her, but he remembers her fondly.]

You knew Elize?